Swelling and redness in a lower extremity that is accompanied by chills and a fever might indicate to a New York health care provider that a patient is dealing with a case of cellulitis. However, a Massachusetts study presents reason for caution in this area because of the prevalence of misdiagnosis related to the disease. Researchers evaluated the records of approximately 260 individuals and found that nearly one-third of them did not actually suffer from this serious condition.
Swelling and redness in a lower extremity that is accompanied by chills and a fever might indicate to a New York health care provider that a patient is dealing with a case of cellulitis. However, a Massachusetts study presents reason for caution in this area because of the prevalence of misdiagnosis related to the disease. Researchers evaluated the records of approximately 260 individuals and found that nearly one-third of them did not actually suffer from this serious condition.
Additional study results related to cellulitis involved hospitalization and medications. The research suggested that only 15 percent of those hospitalized actually needed this level of oversight. Furthermore, only 8 percent of the patients studied needed the antibiotics that were prescribed. If these statistics reflect the trends on a national scale, it is possible that more than $500 million per year is spent on unwarranted medical care for cellulitis.
One of the reasons that the rate of doctor misdiagnoses may be so high for this disease is the fact that another condition, pseudocellulitis, presents with similar symptoms and signs. There are not any reliable tests available at this time to distinguish between the two diseases in lab or radiography settings. Ideally, a patient who may have a case of cellulitis could benefit from being evaluated by a dermatologist to reduce the potential for unnecessary medical care. A patient should not ignore possible signs of cellulitis since the infection can be quite serious. However, a more comprehensive evaluation could eliminate actions such as the administration of strong antibiotics without cause.
An individual could deal with different types of diagnostic errors in a clinical setting. For example, assumptions might be made about skin conditions. Lab tests might be inaccurate because of a patient’s not having been given proper fasting instructions. Medical malpractice cases related to diagnostic error might be warranted in cases involving negligent actions by a provider that led to a patient being harmed.
